Holding devices of the type described in the introduction are known in many different designs in the automobile industry. They comprise essentially the pedal block with the pedals fixed to them pivotably and a baseplate, to which the pedal block is fixed, and which is in turn fixed usually to the firewall of a motor vehicle, e.g., by means of screw connections. The pedal blocks and the baseplate may be manufactured from sheet metal or diecast magnesium or aluminum, and pedal blocks that are screwed directly to the vehicle without a baseplate have been known as well.
Recent developments have been made in the area of the holding devices for the pedal mechanism of motor vehicles point, toward making the pedal block in one piece with a baseplate from a plastic. In this case parts of the brake booster housing may be additionally made in one piece with the plastic baseplate on the side facing away from the pedal block.
To avoid risks of injury to the driver of the vehicle, pedal separation mechanisms have been known, which utilize the introduction of force from the outside, which is caused by an accident, to drive at least one separating wedge between two metallic side walls of a mount on which the pedal lever or the pedal levers is/are pivotably mounted in order to make possible as a result the release of the bearing element carrying the pedal lever. These designs, which form a deformation device, are also known as a “pedal release system.” They bring about the release of the pivot axis and consequently the separation of the pedal from the pedal block, so that the penetration of the pedal into the passenger compartment of the motor vehicle, which would be caused by an accident, is prevented from occurring. The holding devices used in such release systems have the drawback that the design possibilities are limited, especially concerning the geometric design of the metallic components, and the metallic components have an increased weight, which counteracts especially the efforts to have a consistent lightweight design in motor vehicle manufacture. Moreover, the systems known hitherto are very bulky and have a complicated design, so that their mounting and removal is complicated and consequently rather difficult.